According to an inside source, I wouldn’t be too far off when I said to them that there were more Black workers than Black fans at Sunday’s Minnesota-Cleveland football game at the Metrodome. A three-year Black female stadium worker told the MSR that she estimates at least 70 percent of the game-day workforce is Black – her husband has worked at the Dome for eight years. As a result it’s safe to say that maybe three to five percent of the 63,000-plus in attendance were Black. “I’m a diehard Vikings fan, and I was born and raised in Tampa, Florida,” says Sylvester Blue, who now lives in Dallas, Texas. “I’ve been a fan since I was four years old, and I’m 48 now. I work hard all my life and for me to get a chance to come see them live and in person, that’s the ultimate for me.”

J.T. Jones, who was part of a traveling group from Atlanta, Ga. admitted that his group earlier talked about not seeing more Blacks at pro football games, whether in the Twin Cities or his hometown. “We got a good price on tickets,” says Jones. He added that a possible reason for the lack of Blacks at NFL games can be attributed to financial concerns. “We can’t splurge as much as we want to. We pick and choose what we splurge,” he explains. “You look on TV and it never looks like there are Blacks at games.”

“I’m a big football fanatic. I work hard to enjoy the things I love, and football is one of them. Continue Reading →